The question of lubrication for Baldwin #60000 at the Franklin Institute makes me wonder about other locomotives that are "in motion". The Lake Shore Railroad Museum in Duluth has DM&IR Yellowstone #227 with both sets of drivers revolving while they sit just a "hair" above the rails. Do the folks in Duluth have some type of lubrication in place for the moving parts? The Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago has the drivers and rods from Chicago & Eastern Illinois 4-4-2 #222 on display which are put in motion by the push of a button by visitors. What do they do for this long in place exhibit? And are there other "moving" locomotives on display and what about lubrication for them?

Les

I was at Carillon Park in Dayton last year and they had a reproduction of an early grasshopper locomotive that was sitting on rollers and chained to a motor to spin the drivers. I noticed that there was very little oil or lubrication anywhere near the bearings and this got me thinking about the qualifications or lack of qualifications of museum staff to properly care for operating mechanical exhibits. A steam locomotive is not like a modern machine with sealed bearings and anti friction materials. It needs frequent lubrication, and I don't think that is consistent with push button operation.

On big locomotives the driving boxes and piston rods could be lubed from a central system such as a Bijur or Trabon setup. But that still leaves the side rods and valve gear which cannot be lubed that way. Someone needs to be there and oil round, or at least give the grease cups a turn every morning.

Our stationary rolling mill engine will be operated via electric motor once the restoration is completed, and I have been giving quite a bit of thought to its lubrication. We will tie a lube pressure gauge to the start circuit of the electric drive, so the engine will not rotate if main bearing lube pressure isn't above a certain value. Fortunately that lube system also takes care of the crossheads and side rods, and we will remove the piston rings and cylinder head packing so that the piston rods won't need lubed.

However there are still a couple dozen grease cups that need individual attention and a 4 feed mechanical oiler with a rather small oil reservoir that would need daily attention. So there is still the possibility for someone to operate the engine dry and screw up a bearing, but at least we are taking as many precautions as we can.